January 31, 2011

My son was a big fan of Vanilla Ice back in the early 90’s when he came out with his hit song “Ice, Ice Baby.” In fact, my son had mono that year and because he was spending a lot of time resting either on the sofa or in bed, I bought him the VHR video so he could watch it as much as he wanted to. I actually got to where I liked the song itself….not so much the lyrics but just the “beat”.

Now Vanilla Ice a/k/a Robert Van Winkle has a home improvement show on the DIY network! Who woulda ever thought this “rapper” would turn “flipper” but that’s just what his show is about. I don’t get the DIY Network on my cable TV so I haven’t been able to check it out but from what I’ve read, he’s getting high marks for his expertise in flipping houses and extensive knowledge on landscaping.

Apparently “Mr. Ice” himself is flipping a million dollar mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. Have you had a chance to see his show? And does anyone know what “Word To Ya Motha” means?

Would you want Mr. Ice decorating your space? I might if he’d teach me how to dance…..

My plans to finish the headboard project were derailed this morning when daughter called to see if she could bring the twins by until their doctor appointment this afternoon. Both of them have the sniffles and low grade fever so she decided to take them in for a check up and medicine. Of course, I couldn’t tell her no. We are so lucky that we live close by our daughter and her family and are (overly)-involved in their lives (LOL)! When the twins were babies we kept them a lot but now that they are in school, not so much. So I treasure every opportunity to spend time with them.

Jackson had a bath and then a shower (!), put a Sponge Bob bandage behind his ear and on his knee and Taylor has one on her thumb. We’ve had biscuits, played games on the computer and watched Taylor Swift videos. I finally talked them into spending some quiet time coloring.

Jackson is really concentrating on coloring that picture!

Taylor is very proud of her “masterpieces” and wants to show them every chance she gets

Wrecked den….but nothing I can’t pick up after they leave

Taylor brought her children’s Bible and was reading her lesson to me from “E-pippians” “Children obey your parents as believers in the Lord. Obey them because it’s the right thing to do.’ (Ephesians 6:1). She’s so cute the way she pronounced it! She loves going to church and learning all about Jesus.

Here’s a picture of her Bible. If you are looking to buy a children’s Bible, I would highly recommend this one:

Inscribed inside by her pastor

And her Bible bookmark

Daughter just picked them up for their appointment so I’m going to try and make some headway on finishing the headboard. It’s raining today so I’m painting in the sun room.

Plus I’m making chicken and dumplings for supper and a pear salad….comfort food for a rainy, cold night.

January 30, 2011

I haven’t posted much on food lately so I thought I’d pass along this quick and easy recipe. The lady that does mom’s hair on Friday was passing around these chocolate dipped pretzels last Friday and mama loved them so much I decided to make a batch.

All you need is a bag of chocolate morsels and pretzels. I melted the chocolate in the microwave and then just put several handfuls of the pretzels in the melted chocolate, stirred it until the pretzels were thoroughly coated and placed each pretzel on some parchment paper.

(don’t know why this one came out sideways---tilt your head for a better view!)

Kinda messy and they don’t look so ‘purdy’ but believe me….they are finger lickin’ good! Just ask the hubs who despite the fact he has the flu this weekend, ate MORE than his fair share! In fact, I barely had enough to take to my mom!

January 29, 2011

Last summer I started redoing my Birmingham granddaughter’s bedroom. She was transitioning to a bigger bedroom since she was getting a baby brother in August. Fast forward several months and the room is about 85% complete….just waiting on me to get the headboard painted and curtains made. Since it is 70+ degrees here today I decided to “make hay while the sun shines” and get started on finishing the headboard. I had already applied a spray primer to the headboard but it had lots of streaks and was very rough to the touch. So off to Home Depot I went and bought a sanding block, a Purdy paintbrush (which I can’t say enough about), and some Floetrol. I read over at Centsational Girl’s blog about the Floetrol which is a paint additive used to extend the time for painting and doesn’t leave roller or brush marks. And boy howdy, that is one of the greatest products on the market! Floetrol is used with latex paint and Penetrol is used when using oil based paints.
I had hubby take the headboard outside and took my sanding block to the bed. I used a very fine/fine grit sanding block which is used between coats and for light sanding. It quickly eliminated the rough texture on the bed as well as smoothing out all the streaks. Since I didn’t have a tack cloth I wiped it down with a damp wash cloth and then followed that with a dry cloth. Then I added some Floetrol to my paint, stirred really well and started painting.
The bed is extremely old and took several coats to cover. I am going to do one more coat but I ran out of paint as I had bought one of those “try me” sizes in case I didn’t like the color. I had used about 1/2 of the “try me” paint on a nightstand I’d already done so of course I wanted to use the same color on the bed. It is called “Popcorn” by Behr.

Here’s the “before” pic of the bed. There is a footboard but DIL does not want to use it.

And here it is after 2-3 coats and I wish you could feel how smooth it is……like a baby’s hiney! I’ve often wondered how people get their painted furniture so smooth with no brush marks and now I know. I found out that by taking a few extra steps – like sanding and wiping down and adding the Floetrol to the paint - you get a great result with your painted furniture. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos with all the shadows, etc. but I wanted to show how it’s looking so far

I love the shape of the bed…so feminine I think

And one more full shot

I’m thinking about adding an applique to the middle of the headboard. I had one on hand but it was too big so I’ll have to look into getting one a little smaller.
I love days like today cause I really get motivated to get some of my many projects started and/or done. I’ve been putting off this headboard project for months so it really felt good to get it ALMOST done! Now I’ve got to make some curtains for the room and then we’ll have the big reveal.
I hope everyone has a safe and WARM weekend!

January 23, 2011

First, I’d like to thank each and every one of you that left a comment on my last post. I think we all have times of feeling down in the dumps but what a blessing to be able to reach out and get the support you all showed. I am truly grateful for all the love and encouragement ya’ll shared.

If you have grandchildren you know there’s nothing like them! I sometimes wonder if my heart is big enough to hold the love I have for all four we have….it feels like I’m going to burst with love every time I’m around them. On Saturday night we kept my daughter’s twins. Now we’ve been around these little rascals since the moment they came into this world and I can hardly believe how fast they are growing. They are 6 1/2 (Taylor wants you to be sure she’s that extra 1/2!). We decided to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows but hubby didn’t want to cook outside on the firepit or grill cause it was 21 degrees and none of us wanted to get sick. So we used our fireplace, being careful to put a rug down in front for any messes. Taylor really got into it but Jackson only participated a few minutes…he was more interested in watching Sponge Bob and playing with his trucks.

Hubby likes his crispy (burnt!)

Taylor just likes to blow off the flames!

Jackson finally decides to get in on the fun…

….he’s just not sure about standing that close to the fire so Pop roasted his for him

Earlier in the day we had gone shopping and Taylor found an Auburn cheerleader outfit she wanted. So what’s a grandmother to do but buy it? Of course, it’s too big but she should be able to wear it next year. When she got to the house, she just HAD to put it on….you can see how big it is but that didn’t stop her from modeling it for us!

Later on I found her on the computer AND the phone calling her mom and dad who had gone out to eat and a play….I think we’re going to have our hands full in a few short years. She’s already very computer savvy and LOVES to talk on the phone.

I’ll leave you with a little project I just did on Friday. Like so many of you, I get a lot of inspiration from Pottery Barn, just not loving their prices.

After seeing how everyone was making their own book bundles I got myself a few books for 75 cents (vs. the $39 price tag from Pottery Barn), tore the covers off and tied them together with some jute twine I had on hand. I showed hubby the PB photo and mine and he actually thought I had bought them from PB….silly man!

I love the way they turned out and will be making several more bundles. This is a quick and cheap project. Just get yourself some books at Goodwill, thrift stores, your home, etc. (be sure they are not collector’s editions!), rip off the covers and tie them together. For someone who likes instant gratification, this was a perfect project for me!

January 19, 2011

I’m in a real blog slump. I can’t seem to get motivated to do anything around the house and everywhere I look there are things that need to be done. Guess I’ll just be like Scarlett O’Hara and “think about it tomorrow”!

I think part of my problem is that there has been a lot of sadness around me lately. My mom’s last surviving friend, who turned 91 last Saturday, will probably not be alive in 30 days. She had a massive heart attack on Christmas Eve, then when she went in the hospital, they discovered she was ate up with cancer. Her only child (he was in his 70’s) died last spring and she essentially gave up from that point on. This is a real Christian woman but she says she’s ready to “go.” My mama is taking it pretty hard. Mama will be 91 in June.

Yesterday a friend of ours was murdered! No one knows much right now but his truck was found on fire and he was on the ground a few feet away stabbed to death. My husband just saw him at the bank last Friday.

There are also some other things going on I’m not at liberty to discuss. A friend is having a hard time with some life changing events and needs reassurance.

I know the power of prayer and I would ask that you join me in asking God’s “peace that passeth all understanding” be felt by these precious folks and the family of our murdered friend.

January 10, 2011

January 9, 2011

Seems like I fell off the face of the earth since Christmas, I’ve been totally uninspired to post anything, I think I was just wore out from the holidays. And now today, this part of the country is under a severe weather advisory with ice and snow warnings! The south totally shuts down with those dire warnings, we just aren’t equipped to deal with that kind of weather. Husband went out to get some firewood this morning and then we went to the grocery store and when we got home I made chicken tortilla soup AND hamburger soup, don’t want to go hungry!

The twins (our 6 year old grandchildren) just got their progress reports last Thursday….both had all A’s!!! So Saturday was “their” day to do whatever they wanted. Taylor wanted a manicure so after lunch at The Golden Corral (Jackson’s choice) we headed to Tips & Toes for Taylor’s mani.

I had picked up mama and took her to lunch with us and she really enjoyed her lunch at Golden Corral. I’m so lucky she can still get out and about at 90 1/2 years old, she is amazing!

Here’s my Tater Bug getting her first mani….

Look at those sweet little hands….she’s growing up way too fast for me..

Taylor then decided she wanted green polka dots on top of the pink polish

She recently lost both of her front teeth!

After Taylor got her manicure her mom decided to get one as well

Taylor is “consulting” on her mom’s polish color….they decided to get the same color.

After the manicures, we headed out to do some shopping then on to Game Boy for some Wii games for Jackson. At that point, I left to come home cause I really don’t understand all that Wii business!

I just got off the phone with daughter and she told me that after they got home last night, Taylor said “mom, this is the greatest day ever, I don’t want it to end!”

Like so many of my Southern sistas, we might be without power for the next few days. I hope it doesn’t get as bad as predicted….just as long as we have power Monday night so we can watch our Auburn Tigers play Oregon for the National Championship. WAR EAGLE!

About Me

I'm a Southern girl who loves my family and home. Born and raised in the Deep South, I have a great respect for our heritage and try in my own little way to keep the Southern lifestyle alive and well! I'm happily married to a wonderful man and we have two grown children and four grandchildren who are the love of our lives! I hope you enjoy your visit to my Southern home and as we say here in Dixie, ya'll come back now, ya hea!